Logan's Run - Life as a Runner
As Published in Paintball Magazine
By: Mike "Non-stop" Selvetti
As a veteran of more then a few 24 hour scenario games since 1994, I can tell you one thing with absolute sureness. Reality as we know it warps and time speeds up like you are in a black hole. My team prepared for weeks, and in a blur the game was over. I'm still not sure if Wayne has a time machine, and he's not saying. Well, enough of the Star Trek scenario, this is Logan's Run.
We arrived the morning of the event to see a very large turn out (600 or so) which was a big surprise. I thought the big games were in the fall... Not anymore! I guess the secret is out. The sport is growing and scenario games are the wave of the future. These types of events are the only ones in paintball where the "newbie" and the seasoned veteran can truly compete on an even playing field.
After getting the tents setup and registration out of the way, the team turned to tuning the guns again and doing the once more over the equipment. Over the sound of paintball guns dryfiring, Wayne announced that the introduction would be starting in five minutes. Five minutes, there goes that time machine again. After a quick briefing and a solid understanding of the rules, play would begin at 12:00 high. Our team quickly chronoed and made our way to the base to do our "assigned" security. General Chester Bombriant quickly went to work setting up the "Dummy" General. The man of the hour was a first time player nicknamed Blaze, who took the job without realizing what he was in store for. Maybe the term "Dummy" is not right, for in the evening as our base was taken more times then I care to recall, it seemed like it should have been "Dead man walking".
As the game went through the first couple of hours, things stayed very quiet at the base. Hearing the action over the radio was one of the hardest things to do as you want to leave your post and join in on the action. But duty is duty so I stayed on post and watched as half of my team, Air Assault, went out on missions with other teams like the Bad Monkeys, Trespassers and Rogue Warriors just to name a few. The action sounded great and the behind the scenes action was just warming up. Our first pieces of technology (computer parts) came in along with other items needed to win the game.
The Runners were looking good early on but things always change in the world of scenarios. Three o'clock, finally the team can move out on a mission together. Our duty as security has been forfilled. Now we pillage and plunder and make the Sandmen pay! Our first official mission, take and hold "Sinker Town". Now I know all the players from Logan's Run are saying " Where in the world is he talking about?", but players who have been to Waynes for other events know this is the village that sees more then its share of the action. Sinker Town is located near the center of the 80 acre playing field in a fairly large depression. There are about 5 buildings directly in the depression with assorted bunkers surrounding the immediate area along with large oak trees and fallen logs. A nightmare to take as well as hold. As luck would have it, only about 20 Sandmen were holding the village. Our squad consisting of about 40 players moved in for the "easy" kill. Yeah, right. At these games, nothing is easy. After some lucky shots from us and 20 tagged players of ours later, the remaining Sandmen fled the village knowing they had done their job well. We were finally in the village and now the clock started running. For the players that have never participated in a scenario game, points are won by gathering items and completing missions. All the members of the opposite team you eliminate count for nothing. We dug in and waited for what we knew would be some kind of retaliation and deprive us of our mission and the much needed points. Twenty minutes into the mission, the attack started. With my team running low on ammo and air, we were not in the best position but the Sandmen were not getting this real estate without a fight. The Sandmen had pushed in with about 40 or so players and were laying it down hard. To our surprise, reinforcements for us were just arriving in the form of Trespassers. 40 plus fresh players sure do look good. The fighting continued past our thirty minutes and the referee signed off on the mission card and we pulled back. Mission accomplished. No one was happier then me to get out of that village without being tagged.
After dropping off the mission card to the base, it was back to camp to reload. With diner break closing in fast, I decided to just stay at the camp and see what the General was planning. The General was to meet up and try to do some trading of computer parts with the Sandmen. Cool, I thought, maybe we will come out ahead in the deal. That was not to be. Instead of completing a trade, the General was poisoned and to make matter worse, the Sandmen now knew who the real General was. He would need to find a cure within 4 hours. Great, situation normal, all messed up. How quickly the tone of the game can change. But just when I figured we were at our low, things took a turn for the worst. During the dinner break, the General was poisoned again! Double trouble. He would now need to find 2 antidotes, one before ten o'clock and the other at midnight.
With dinner break winding down and the team now chronoed down for night play, the action was about to begin. Night play in a scenario game is on the honor system, meaning if you're tagged, your eliminated. It does not have to break. This is where the players at Waynes World really shine. All players my team engaged at night played clean. Shots would be fired into the darkness of buildings and players would call hit. Honest playing and true sportsmanship are alive and well at Waynes. Superman has left the building. I wish to thank all the players that did the right thing when no one was watching. Without honesty, night play would be a waste.
The first big push of the night for the Runners was on the east side of the field. A force of over 80 players made our way down the border road heading south. The Sandmen had also sent a good size force in this general direction. The Sandmen flashed spotlights down the road only to be answered with a war cry and the firing of all guns. Mayhem soon followed. Paintballs so thick you could walk on them. The horror. Fortunately, the referee staff was on their toes and the fighting had to be stopped for the hit players to exit. Teams were told to return to their base and get a new mission. Grumbling was heard, but it was for the best of all players. As our force returned, the Sandmen were making a huge push on our base. We quickly took positions to force them back when in came a High Tech bomb. This unit was a water balloon in a metal container which if thrown into the base, would destroy it. All I can say is good shot. Base destroyed. All base occupants take the walk.
Meeting with the General, I was informed he had made a deal for one cure, but the clock was still ticking on the Midnight dead line. He was off to meet with Blitzkrieg and try to negotiate the other cure. It was not to be. Chalk one up for the Sandmen. The General passed shortly after midnight. Luckily he was back in play in a half hour. Night play went terrible for our base. I'm not sure, but I think our base was blown up 5 times. Security was out the window. Sandmen were handing out missions for Runners. The Mayberry Maurders took up residence there. Things were not looking good that night. The only plus we had for our side that night was the Bad Monkeys. Two members of the Bad Monkeys had infiltrated the ranks of the Sandmen. Going out on missions, the two players would kindly walk up behind the players they were with and have them "Take the Hit". This term is used as a courtesy rule so players are not shot at close range. I'm sure plenty of Sandmen are very familiar with that term now. This was the only saving grace for the Runners that the night play was not a total lose.
Morning broke with players ready for the last few hours of play. My team was given the mission to take our old friend "Sinker Town". We pushed through the field meeting with no resistance and rolled into the village without firing a shot. A quick radio call from the General now had us splitting our force, leaving 10 at the village while the remaining 20 went on to "harass" the Sandmen at their insertion point. A runner brought us a special mission card a the referee signed off we had 30 minutes to keep the Sandmen under fire. Many rounds were spent doing just as ordered. But as time ran down, so did our supply. At the 5 minute mark only myself and 2 other members of my team remained. Then the lone ball from the blue took me out. Two players left and only minutes remaining to complete the mission. As I plugged my barrel and left the battle, Trespassers were once again coming to Air Assaults rescue. This would be the beginning of the end for the Sandmen.
With one huge push, the remaining Air Assault players and all the Trespassers and other Runners blasted through defenders at the insertion and took the base. The Sandman General escaped unharmed, but would not occupy his base again for the rest of the game. The Runners pushed the Sandmen into the Airport area and finally eliminated all remaining players they could find. A call over the radio was heard, "It's like Braveheart here, the Sandmen are all eliminated! Everyone is running around screaming and cheering!" Running into the General once more with 5 minutes left, he told us he was on his way to Sanctuary. All was well. Victory would be ours today. But as we were to find out, not by much.
The margin for victory was only one mission that the Sandmen failed to complete. Too close for me, but any win for my side is a good one. In reality, we all had won. A great game was played by all. Some of the best I had ever seen. Most valuable team awards went to very deserving teams. The Sandmen voted Mayberry Mauraders as theirs, while Trespassers took it for the Runners. Each team received a certificate for 15 Custom SKINZ from TacPro Tactical Products. Speaking of prizes, (10) Autocockers, (10) Tippmann Carbines and (10)PMI Phiranas were but a few of the great prizes given out. Redz Comfort Gear and many others helped out in the prizes as well as sponsoring the costume contest, which I must say is a whole other story. If you have been to other of Wayne's events, I should inform you the Head Hunter made another appearance... Literally. Enough said. Thanks for all who attended for making this game one of the best I have attended. If I missed an event in the game or bent the truth, remember, I'll be there next game so you can pay me back on the field.
Take care and see you out there....